The Origin of My Life (2020 update)

When I wrote a short biography of myself, “The Origin of My Life”, 10 years ago, I did not expect all the events that inspired my parent to change the world and therefore shaped the life for all 3 of us would happen again at this very moment! That is why I feel very urgent to update this article!

If you are shocked by all the protests and demonstrations happening recently, you will understand how much risk my parents had to take by giving up our good life in the U.S. and going back to Taiwan, advocating for human rights and democracy when Taiwan was still ruled by the oppressive regime called KMT. It took more than 20 years for the alliance of the pro-human-rights forces that my parents put all their time and effort to build (later became DPP) to win the presidential election in 2000! However, the story did not end up here. A lot of things still needed to be done to fully dismantle all kinds of the systems from KMT’s previous dictatorship that had brought so much inequality and injustice to the society. At the meantime, we have also constantly received increasing threat from Communist China who cannot recognize the obvious fact that Taiwan is a fully independent country that has never been a part of China. Therefore, it just took an equal amount of conviction and perseverance as before for my parents to work with DPP to help Taiwan to go through all the challenges. It has never been easy in anyway and there is still a lot of work to do, but we cannot deny that Taiwan has made a lot of progress in all these years! For now, Taiwan has the democracy index and press freedom index comparable to the US and Japan. Taiwan has a world-class social welfare network that can take a great care of all the people in Taiwan, even those who are most helpless and vulnerable! (That is why it is one of a very few countries in the world that can avoid the COVID-19 pandemic). However, the progress does not stop from here. Last year, Taiwan has become the first country ever in Asia to legalize gay marriage! Everything is just getting better and better!

There is also a lot of changes in my life. The most important change is that there are no longer just 3 of us! because I am married! I met my wife in DPP’s rally and fundraising event in SF Bay Area. It was not a good time for DPP facing some setbacks in the previous elections and I was deeply worried, but all I remember is how happy I was at the very moment I saw her! She shares the same dreams, same passion, and same values with me! No matter it is for advocating Taiwan to be a member of UN and WHO, conserving our environment, rescuing endangered species, or doing anything to help anyone who is underserved, I know we are in it together! I remember talking with her for hour after hour without knowing the time passing by! and taking my long vacation for the very first time just to travel with her! From falling in love with her to marrying her, everything just went so naturally without any question!

My wife means everything to me! I can see all of my parent’s dreams, their ideals for changing the world, have only become feasible when they have each other! In my journey of following in my parents’ footsteps. I tried to do all my best and kept pushing myself to go further, but I always felt something was missing. As I got older, I realized it was not normal for me to be all by myself, when my parents at this age had already been together long enough to go through all the ups and downs of the social movements! However, all the dismay has been gone when I met my wife! because I just knew she is worth my waiting, no matter how long I have to wait! I even feel grateful about all the time being alone because that is what gave me the chance to meet her and marry her! Everything is infinitely better than ever when I am with her! It will be truly great if we can also have a child and tell her or him all our ideas about how to make the world a better place to live, just like my what my parents told me! However, no matter what will happen, I am already content with her in my life! The idea of 4 of us working together to change the world is already so much better than just 3 of us, right?

By the way, I have also left Davis for quite some time. Now I am a scientist in the public sector, working hard to develop the genetic screening assays that will be available to all the babies in my state, regardless of their socioeconomic background! The work is very rewarding to me, because I have found my unique way to follow our family tradition of making the world better! I think I am doing well now, not too far away from the goals set at the beginning of my life. Although I don’t know exactly what my next step will be, as long as my wife is with me, I have nothing to worry about!

At last, I would like to praise all those people who are courageous enough to go outside to protest against the inequality in the U.S. I remember when I was little, my parent used so many creative ways to trick me into going to the protests with them. A supposed family trip to the beach turned out to be a protest against KMT, and I was so scared when I saw all the emotionless policemen in front of me! However, when I look back at those moments in the past, I feel grateful for the opportunities to be a part of the force to bring democracy to Taiwan! I feel proud of myself and my parents to be there for Taiwan! So I am sure when you look back maybe 20 years later, you will also feel great for the change you have done for not just us but all our future generations! So please hang in there and I wish you all the best with all my heart!

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Okay here is the original article, my short biography, written on 11/10/2010. I have also added more photos and the captions to the photos under it.

The Origin of My Life

I would like to go back to the earliest moment of my life to think about this town, Davis, in a whole new way!

I was born in a happy family. My parents fell in love with each other when they were still very young and got married a few years later, and then they decided to pursue their graduate study in the U.S. It was tough for them to live in a foreign place with very little money, but their love for each other had not been worn out by the harsh daily life. The bond between them has been even stronger than before, because of what happened in the early 1970!

It was at the peak of anti- Vietnam war movement. There were always large demonstrations on campus, because people were forced to fight in this war that was not only unnecessary but also unjust. My parents and their classmates from Taiwan were so passionate about the movement, because they were so touched by the courage and determination of these young people to stand up against the seemingly invincible establishment of the U.S. government in order to make this world a better place!

At that time Taiwan was still under the dictatorship of KMT, an exiled regime from China led by Chiang's family. There were no freedom and no human right at all. The left-wing thought from the anti-war movement not only made my parents and their friends realize that Taiwanese people were heavily oppressed, but also provided them a strategy to resist the oppression with peaceful but effective ways! Therefore, they decided to start a revolution to overthrow the totalitarian system and make Taiwan a democratic country with its sovereignty belong to all Taiwanese people! The spirit of revolution was so important to my parents just like their religion, because they put it in my name when I was born!

However, it was easier to say than actually do it when the life could be at stake, so at last only my parents and me were stubborn enough to still stay in Taiwan. Luckily they found the other allies who shared the same belief with them, mostly the young people just graduating from college. Together they united all kinds of different organizations in the social movements, such as the groups advocating for labors, farmers, women, mental and physical disabilities, human rights, and environment conservation... The union was getting bigger and bigger, and eventually it became an unstoppable force that led to the formation of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)! After a series of big demonstrations and civil disobedience led by the party, the government was pressured to abolish all the oppressive laws and hold free elections! and finally in the year 2000, DPP won the president election and became the ruling party of Taiwan! All my parent's dreams that people once felt unrealistic have thus all come true! Therefore, I always regard DPP as my little brother, because I have seen my parents spent so much time and effort to nurture him, and I am so proud of what he has accomplished!

As a result, I always think my childhood is a fairytale! Just like what happened in those Disney movies, my parents took me to the adventures in some mysterious places. It might be kind of scary, but I always knew that they would take care of me and always keep me safe! This kind of experience made me a happy kid, full of dreams for my future since I was little, and I hoped when I grew up, I would be just like my parents, finding my true love and working passionately together to change the world and make it a better place!


After I grew up, I came back to the U.S. for my graduate study, just like my parents. However, I found everything was so different from my expectation! All kinds of frustration and failure let me think that I had to compromise with the reality in order to make my dreams come true later, but when I overcame the challenges, I only found there were even more challenges waiting ahead of me! Therefore, I had been stuck in the never ending challenges of the reality, and I found that none of my dreams came true when I was not young any more! I did not know what was wrong in me, until I came to this miraculous town, Davis!

Davis is just like where I was born! The free spirit is so fresh in the air! So different from the stereotype of Californians driving cars all the time, the people in Davis insist to use bicycles as their major transportation, and they built a comprehensive network of bike lanes and made Davis one of the top environment friendly cities in the world! Another thing that really impresses me is the construction of Toad Tunnel. To prevent the frogs from being crushed by the cars, the city government built this tunnel for the frogs to pass from its habitat to the places across the road. I am so touched by how the life is so respected at here. Later on I also found a similar good place called California Raptor Center where many of the volunteers are there to take care of the injured eagles and owls. In addition, I was so surprised that the community church here would display a rainbow flags, welcoming people with different sexual orientation, such as LGBT, to join them! It just shows this city is so generous and so open-minded to embrace all kinds of diversity! Then, the most fascinating time of the city is the hippie style annual 3 day event, Whole Earth Festival: The vibrant color there just brought me back to the 70s when my parents were young, and let me revisit their dreams for social justice and living in balance with the Mother Nature!

What sounds like a dream for most people has become the daily life for Davis residents like me! A few years ago, the people in Davis voted against a land development plan that could bring a tremendous amount of monetary gain to this city! because they think environment conservation and the sense of community are much more important than the numbers of the economic growth! (Please see Covell Village) We can see this city has never compromised with the reality, but people here still live in happiness. Therefore, I just found that my thought was wrong before. If we are compromised to do the things that we are not interested, we can never really do it well, but if we stand up for our ideals, our passion will touch many people, and the things will be much easier to accomplish with their help!

I regard what happened to me in Davis is the most important revelation of my life! because I had a chance to visit my childhood experience once again, and think again about what my parents were dreaming for and their expectation for me! Then I just realized what is the most important goal in my life! Sometimes I think that the reason for me to come to Davis is not just a coincidence in my life, because if I kept staying in USC as I planned, I might never have a chance to look back to the deep meaning of my life that my parents have offered to me! (11/10/2010)



p.s. (1) This article was supposed to be published in October 2010 to remind people to vote against the Proposition 23 in California, because this referendum topic led by the petroleum companies could hinder our progress to prevent global warming if passed. However, I was too busy and the election was over when I finished my writing. It is lucky that Proposition 23 didn't pass!

p.s. (2) To know more about the anti-war movement that inspired my parents, please watch the musical movie "Across The Universe" (all the music was from Beetle's albums!)

p.s. (3) To know more about what my parents were facing when they went back to Taiwan, please see this great movie "Formosa Betrayed"




I am going to add the captions for the photos for the first time here!

(1) My wife found this event held by Humane League, an organization advocating for the welfare of the animals raised for food. We joined the event because we are both passionate about promoting animal rights!

(2) The entrance of the Toad Tunnel in Davis. It is a tunnel for the frogs to avoid all the cars on the road while crossing to the other side.

(3) The “All are welcome” rainbow sign from Community Church in Davis. I finally joined this church when I graduated and had more free time. However, I only stayed for a very short time because I had to leave Davis to work. Luckily, later I found another very nice church, Good Samaritan Episcopal Church in San Diego. After becoming a Christian, I have realized that being inclusive and welcoming diversity is not only the right thing to do but also what the God wants us to do!

(4)"Across The Universe" is my famous movie because it is all about what inspired my parents when they were young!






(5) You can ride a bicycle to anywhere in Davis, because there are tunnels, bridges, and even the traffic lights that are designed only for bikes!









(6) The annual 3 days big event in Davis, "Whole Earth Festival". It is just as awesome as the famous Woodstock event in 70s! Please check my blog for more details about it.

(7) This photo was taken before Dr. Tsai, the leader of DPP, became the president of Taiwan. To show my fully support for her leadership, I went to her rally and fundraising events whenever she came to SF Bay Area, and that is how I met my wife!